LeBron James begins his 76ers era by making the stakes clear in Philly

LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. That is the strange truth, and it still takes some getting used to. Maybe for James, too.

LeBron joined his new teammates for Sixers media day on Monday and finally spoke about the decision that took a lot of people by surprise, including pretty much everyone in Philadelphia. It was easy enough to imagine him returning to Cleveland once again for an encore performance or taking his talents back to South Beach for another go-round with the Heat. You could even close your eyes and see him finally teaming up with Steph Curry in Golden State. By his own admission, he even saw a scenario where he finished his career in New York in front of fawning fans at Madison Square Garden.

It was harder to envision him choosing the Sixers, a franchise that has not had much go right for the majority of its existence and certainly not over the last quarter century or so. This is, of course, an organization that drafted not one but two first overall picks in Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz who promptly forgot how to shoot. They had to toss one of their general managers overboard due…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/